Council of Europe and European Union continues to support the successful implementation of the Suicide Prevention Programme in prisons and as part of it further cascade training will be delivered to the staff of penitentiary establishments. Five 3-day sessions will be held in Rustavi, in the Penitentiary and Probation Training Centre and three in Kutaisi, in the Public Defender’s Kutaisi Office.

Timely identification of persons at risk, their close follow-up and coordinated approach of qualified professionals are necessary for the prevention of suicides in prisons. Therefore the training will enable frontline staff to identify the stress and other factors in prison affecting the emotional state of prisoners and increasing the risks of suicide and self-harm. The training uses case studies and exercises to better familiarize participants with suicide prevention activities and suicide management techniques.

The first cycle of the sessions was conducted under the previous phase of the project “Human Rights in Prisons and other Closed Institutions” which also assisted the prison administration in developing the training curricula and methodology specially tailored to the Georgian prison staff. Trainers, selected staff members of the penitentiary system, were also trained in the previous project phase by international and Georgian experts.

So far, in total, 92 social workers, 644 regime staff and security officers and 101 medical staff were prepared to take part in the suicide prevention programme. Besides, awareness on the issue has also been raised among senior prison managers, including 46 prisons directors, their deputies, and chief doctors. It is expected that by the end of the current training cycle the increased number of trained staff will help further decrease of the number of suicide attempts and cases to the lowest possible level.

This activity is a part of the Council of Europe and European Union support to improve the provision of mental health care in Georgian prisons and other closed institutions. It is organised within the framework of the EU/CoE Eastern Partnership Programmatic Cooperation Framework Project “Human Rights and Healthcare in prisons and Other Closed Institutions in Georgia II”.

We work together to promote Human rights, Democracy and Rule of Law!